Transient woman arrested on suspicion of arson in downtown Palo Alto

A transient woman was arrested early Sunday morning in downtown Palo Alto on suspicion of felony arson, according to police.

Firefighters and police were called to 225 Hamilton Ave. at about 1:30 a.m. after a woman was spotted setting fire to a stack of books and magazines in a building alcove, said Officer Brad Young of the Palo Alto Police Department.

When the first officer arrived, the woman tried to pat out the flames but only succeeded in causing them to spread, Young said.

Young, the second officer on the scene, used a fire extinguisher from his squad car to snuff it out. He said most of the police department's squad cars are equipped with extinguishers and that he has had some practice with his.

"On the little stuff, it tends to work pretty well," Young said.

Although the blaze wasn't particularly large, it was powerful enough to char the side of the building, Young said. An estimate of the damage was not immediately available Monday evening.

The woman -- identified as 21-year-old Tiffany Hayes Robinson, a transient -- was arrested on suspicion of arson, as well as for outside warrants, and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail. Under the penal code, arson of a structure is a felony punishable by two, four or six years in state prison.